Why Fast?

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“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry.” Luke 4:1-2

This Lenten Season is a special time set aside for fasting and abstinence. The Church especially asks us to fast on days such as Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and Ember Days – but what’s the point? Why should Christians fast?

Fr Anthony Bernard takes us through some examples of fasting in Scripture and their purpose, encouraging us to go that extra mile in our relationship with God this Lent.

DOWNLOAD (Right click to save) (11:20 mins)

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  1. Thank you Fr Anthony for putting fasting in its correct understanding, as from food as distinct from penance (giving up TV etc). It is good that the Church moved away from compulsory fasting all Lent so that the Faithful could choose for themselves how they can best do Fasting and Penance BUT without us being taught properly, encouraged and reminded good ideas quickly become forgotten and therefore not handed onto our children. In our modern society where instant gratification is the norm and most people have to have what it is what they want, even if they can’t afford it(hence the high rate of debt), they have not had the very valuable experience of fasting and penance to help them be able to say no to themselves in small things and so when bigger temptations come they have no self discipline to combat it with. If the Church wants us to be responsible for this then priests have to preach about it, as you have, reminding us of its great benefits and importance.

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